Metro Bank trebles profit amid pivot to specialist lending August 6, 2025 Metro Bank more than trebled its profit in the first six months of the year as its transformation strategy gained pace. The high street lender recorded an underlying profit before tax of £45m, compared with £12.8m in the second half of 2024. Revenue grew 22 per cent to £286m whilst operating costs fell eight per [...]
Professional landlords to replace ‘hobbyist’ investors August 5, 2025 The much-publicised decline of the small-scale private landlord is leaving huge scope for professional lenders to take their place, in a ‘net positive’ for the market, according to property experts. Private landlords are being squeezed from all directions: A combination of lower tax relief, higher mortgages and tighter regulation has continuously pushed yields down. Amateur [...]
‘Not the end of the story:’ Uncertainty for motor finance lenders after court ruling August 5, 2025 Banking stocks may be revving up on the back of a legal win but motor finance lenders might find there is still trouble lurking under the bonnet. City banks dodged a £44bn liability after the Supreme Court upheld the appeal of two banks in the historic car-misselling case. On Friday, Close Brothers and First Rand [...]
FTSE 100 banks outperform but face tougher waters ahead August 4, 2025 The FTSE 100’s banking constituents breezed through the second quarter results season as interest income remained stable and trading income soared on the back of market volatility. The ‘Big Five’ banks of London’s flagship stock index – Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds and Standard Chartered – pocketed a combined £12.8bn in the three months to June [...]
Santander UK axes jobs and branches in transformation overhaul July 30, 2025 Santander UK recorded a surge in provisions as the bank powered forward with its transformation strategy slashing its branch network and shedding workers. The bank said provisions for other liabilities and charges were up 74 per cent to £249m driven by “higher transformation related charges”. The lender listed losses and provisions as rising 119.8 per [...]
Taylor Wimpey: Construction jumps but cladding costs wipe out profit July 30, 2025 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey posted a double-digit rise in housing completions, but a £222.2m hit from fixing combustible cladding pushed the company to a half-year loss. Shares fell nearly five per cent in early morning trades. The number of houses built in the first half of 2025 totalled 5,264, up from 4,728 last year, the company [...]
Paragon maintains pace as stamp duty changes slow mortgage lending July 29, 2025 Paragon has weathered a shakeup in stamp duty as analysts hailed the FTSE 250 bank’s “excellent momentum” in the first nine months of the financial year. The London-listed business recorded £1.1bn mortgage lending for the first three quarters, but estimated full-year volumes at the lower end of targets at £1.6bn. The firm said subdued activity [...]
Mortgages rebound in lift for housing market July 29, 2025 Britons’ borrowing of mortgages and consumer credit rose at a faster pace in June, fresh Bank of England data has revealed, in signs that the recovery in the housing market is “well underway”. In monthly statistics released by the Bank to signal trends in the UK banking system, it was revealed that net borrowing of [...]
Savills cuts estimate for house price growth over next two years July 24, 2025 Savills has cut its estimate for house price growth over the next two years as caution stalls the housing market, but expects looser mortgage rules to boost in the market in the medium term. The real estate giant cut its forecast for house price growth in 2025 from four per cent to one per cent, [...]
FCA softens remortgaging rules in dash for growth July 22, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to remove red tape on remortgaging in the latest sign public bodies are tearing up their rulebooks to align with the government’s growth agenda. In new measures introduced by the City regulator, mortgage holders will be able to reduce the terms of their borrowing and switch to new [...]